Powell to join Kissinger, Baker, Christopher and Albright at Secretaries of State roundtable

Athens, Ga. - On March 27, five former secretaries of state will gather in Athens to discuss current U.S. foreign policy issues with the goal of providing direction and counsel to the next presidential administration. Colin Powell has just confirmed that he will be able to join Henry Kissinger, James Baker III, Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright at The Report of the Secretaries of State: Bipartisan Advice to the Next Administration.

"We are very pleased that General Colin Powell will be able to join the distinguished group of former secretaries of state who have already committed to attend our forum," Ambassador C. Donald Johnson, the director of the University of Georgia School of Law's Dean Rusk Center, which is co-sponsoring the event, said. "We are confident the roundtable dialogue will be very thought provoking. The insight these former secretaries can provide regarding current foreign policy issues will surely take the public's understanding to a new level."

Currently, the roundtable is "sold out." However, a waiting list procedure has been created to ensure that all seats will be filled for the forum. People who have not been able to secure tickets to the roundtable should contact the Classic Center at 800-864-4160 or ClassicCenter.com to be placed on a first come, first served waitlist. Tickets are required for entry and, as they become available, the Classic Center will contact those on the list to redistribute them. Ticket cost is $10 for members of the general public. UGA faculty, staff and students can obtain their tickets for free by showing a UGA ID.

Those who cannot use tickets they have already obtained are urged to contact the Classic Center for ticket return procedures.

Sponsored by the School of Law's Dean Rusk Center and the Southern Center for International Studies, the two-hour roundtable discussion will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will cover foreign policy issues such as: stabilizing Iraq, the Middle East peace talks, Al Qaeda and militant Islam, immigration reform, environmental initiatives, U.S. energy security, America's image abroad, the balancing of economic interests and human rights, free trade agreements, and future dealings with Iran, Pakistan, Canada, Russia and China, among other topics. Newscaster Terence Smith of "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" will moderate.

Another opportunity to see some of the former secretaries of state is a black-tie optional reception and dinner to be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta on March 26. Tickets cost $150 for SCIS members and $175 for non-members. The reception will begin at 6:00 p.m. Tickets to the dinner also include VIP reserved seating at the conference. Reservations and advance payment are required. More information about the dinner is available at www.southerncenter.org.

The School of Law's Dean Rusk Center is partnering with the Southern Center for International Studies to bring these high profile foreign policy experts to Athens to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Dean Rusk Center, which bears the name of the late School of Law faculty member who served as secretary of state for both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk participated in several of these Report of the Secretaries of State sessions while teaching at the School of Law for nearly 25 years.

NOTE FOR EDITORS: If you are planning to cover this event, please contact the law school's Heidi Murphy at 706-542-5172 or hmurphy@uga.edu for registration and guidelines. High resolution photos of the secretaries can be found at: